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AN ORATION 

DELIVERED BEFORE 

THE PHILELEUTHERIAN SOCIETY 

Of Georgetown College 

ON THE FOURTH OF JULY. 

By GEO. R. C. PRICE, Va. 



10 WHICH ABE PREFIXIB^ 

THE REMARKS OF JOS. G. CHEVAJLLIE, 

PBEYIOTTS TO HIS BEADIKO 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



WASHINGTON I 

PBJNTED BI DUFF ffBSSN. 

1836. 



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£ 3 5-3 

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Georgetown College, July 6//j, 1836. 

Messrs. Price, and Jos. Chevallie. 

In compliance with a resolution of the Phileleuthe- 
rian Society, we, the undersigned, return you thanks 
for the able manner in which vou discharged the du- 
ties assigned to you on the 4th instant, and respect- 
fully request a copy for publication. 

JNO. CHEVALLIE, Jr. 
BENJ. GREEN, 
R. GOOCH, 
Committe of the Phileleutherian Society. 



Georgetown College, July 7th, 1836. 

Gentlemen: In conformity with your request, I 
transmit you, with the approbation of Mr. Chevallie, 
a copy 01 the remarks and oration delivered by him 
and myself, on the Anniversary of our Independence, 
confident they contain many imperfections, which 
want of time precludes the possibility of correcting. 

"With respect, 

GEORGE PRICE, Jr. 
To Messrs. John Chevallie, Green, 7 
and Gooch, Committee, &c. j 



REMARKS 

ON Till 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 
By J, G. Chevallie. 



Actuated by feelings of no ordinary kind, 1 come be- 
fore you, fellow students, incompliance with a custom, 
which, taking its origin in the purest and holiest of 
motives, has been sanctioned by the experience of 
fifty years. And although fully aware of my inability 
to perform the duty you have imposed upon me, yet 
relying on your partiality, I enter on its performance 
without fear or hesitation ; convinced that nothing 
more will be expected of me, in the few remarks I 
propose making, previous to the reading of the Declara- 
tion, than the testimony of a sincere love of our coun- 
try, and the desire of beholding it prosperous and 
happy. 

The great, and, indeed the only objection which has 
been made against this custom, one too which does not 
want Its supporters in those, who, boasting of their 
esteem and veneration for Liberty, are totally ignorant ot 
its sacred principles, is, that it serves to renew recollec- 
tions of ihe ancient feuds and wars between the 
colonies and the mother country, fears which should 
be hushed in the tomb of forget fulness, and forever 
banished from our hearts. But where is the American 
that does not reject with iudignation such a proposal? 
What! That we should cease to remember the great 
struggle of the freemen of America against the tyrant 
of England? That we should bury in objivion the 
names of those who offered up their lives, their fortune, 
and their sacred honor at the hallowed shrine of Liberty, 
and in defence of those rights which are natural alike 



to the poor as to the rich, to the humble shepherd as 
to the king on the throne ? No ! God forbid ! Rather 
may the name of my country be blotted from the na- 
tions of the earth, and her very existence unknown, 
than that the glorious deeds of the patriots of North 
America, deeds which have not had their parallel 
since the commencement of time, should cease to be 
remembered. 

Yet how false are not the grounds on which the 
objection rests. For although Americans can never 
forget the glorious actions of their ancestors in the 
contest between Liberty and Oppression, yet far are 
they from entertaining, far are the ceremonies which 
we have this day to perform, from producing malice or 
hatred towards England. United by a community of 
interests and the stronger ties of kindred, we must 
ever look upon the English as the dearest allies we can 
possess. What, then, it may be asked/are the advan- 
tages to be derived from the perusal of the Declara- 
tion? They are numerous and important. From it, 
we become acquainted with those dear and inestimable 
rights and privileges which are common to all men, for 
the maintenance of which our lathers sacrificed so 
much. We are also taught to defend them when at- 
tacked, and we learn this consoling truth, that the. 
power of the wicked availeth nought against the just 
man. Yet the greatest and most important considera- 
tion to be derived from it, is that by its yearly recurrence 
we are shown how precious a boon is Liberty, the innu- 
merable benefits it brings to the land that possesses it, 
and the jealousy with which we should guard it against 
the attacks of those who are daily endeavouring to 
destroy it. Not for our enjoyment alone did our fore- 
fathers obtain this inestimable treasure; and on us 
devolves the responsibility of handing it down to our 
posterity as pure and unsullied as it was transmitted to 
us. To do this, it is absolutely necessary that we 
should obtain a correct knowledge of its principles: and 
this is the superior advantage which the reading of the 
Declaration holds out to us. True patriotism alone 
should guide us on our way, and not the madness of 
party spirit, which so often leads into danger, and 



blinds us into the commission of errors. Here origi- 
nate all the evils that can befall the Republic, and too 
much care cannot be taken to shun its hidden rocks 
and quicksands. To avoid all these evils it is requi- 
site that we should be aware of the importance of union, 
without which, according to the express opinion of the 
Father of his country, our Liberty cannot be preserved. 
Animated by these convictions, and led on by a firm 
purpose to defend our country's rights, we will enjoy 
the triumph of seeing our fears for the safety of the 
Republic vanish, and the hopes and schemes of our 
enemies defeated and crushed in the bud. 



ORATION, 

PELIVEREO BEFORE THE PKILELEUTHER1AN SOCIETY, 
JULY THE FOURTH, 1836, 

BYGEOKGE R. C . PRICE. 



We have assembled together to evince our gratitude 
to our benefactors; to show the world that the sacred 
legacy, sealed and sanctified by the blood of our 
fathers, has been guarded with a zealous eye, and that 
their last friendly injunctions have been impressed in 
indelible characters, upon the hearts of their descend- 
ants. Their brilliant achievements have been inscribed 
upon the brightest scroll of Fame, which was ever 
pendant from the spangled columns of her temple; 
the vestal fire still sparkles at its base, and the genius 
of Freedom, triumphing at the entrance, forbids the pol- 
luting retinue of Despotism to stamp corruption upon 
her hallowed fame. 

Of the gallant bands, which accomplished the inde- 
pendence of America, how few remain to witness these 
consoling celebrations! The last Signer of the Decla- 
ration has smoothly glided into the calm haven of 
eternity. 

When the patriotic sons of the Revolution spring, in 
imagination, from the soil which has been consecrated 
by their heroic deeds; when the hard -fought field is 
extended to our view; when the storms of war, thick- 
ening over their venerable heads, burst in thunder and 
wide spread ruin; when the demon of extermination, 
stalking through their midst, chills each valorous 
effort, and unnerves the fearless arm; when the orb of 
Heaven pales beneath the fire of man, and no longer 
emits its auspicious light; when the din and shout re- 
echo along the distant plain, and the dense and im- 
penetrable cloud of smoke settles opaquely upon the 
lurid sky: what restraint shall we, what restraint can 
we impose upon our feelings. 



A brief recital of the causes which led to the sepa- 
ration of tfee colonies from the mother country; of the 
measures, which called forth the mighty eloquence of 
the indignant Chatham and philosophic Burke; of the 
dire explosion of ministerial vengeance, which fell 
upon every threshold, and awakened our ancestors to 
a deep sense of injury and of wrong; will, I think be 
sufficient. 

After the cessation of the long protracted hostilities 
between France and England, in which the colonies 
had taken an active part, cheerfully supplying men 
and money, whenever application was made to their 
representatives, the ministers began to consult how 
they might most effectually replenish their exhausted 
treasury; and accordingly, shortly after Washington 
had risen upon the ruins of the incautious Braddock, 
resolutions passed the Parliament to lay stamp duty in 
America; but were not immediately followed by any 
legislative act. When this proceeding was first pub- 
lished, it met with no opposition; but in proportion as it 
was better understood, constitutional objections were 
urged with much vigor and ability by sagacious states- 
men in both countries; yet, notwithstanding the pow- 
erful reasons which were adduced against it, notwith- 
standing the declared wishes of the people, this violent, 
unprecedented, and pernicious bill, infringing upon 
their dearest rights and immunities, was again brought 
forward and finally enacted. This expedient was de- 
ferred in its operation, till seven months subsequent to 
its promulgation; in the interval, the voice of the im- 
mortal Henry and of Lee, rang trumpet tongued round 
the legislative halls of Virginia; their speeches, burning 
with a love of liberty, were disseminated throughout 
the land; the press groaned with pamphlets, calling upon 
the dilatory to arouse from their lethargy; the flame ot 
Liberty burst forth in unclouded splendour from the 
respective States, whilst appeals*replete with vehement 
and glowing eloquence, taught the throne that, if ano- 
ther torch were cast into the combustible materials 
already collected, they would swell into a consuming 
conflagration, which even the queen of the ocean could 
not extinguish — warned it of the hour of retribution fast 



8 

approaching, when the land of Alfred, after having de- 
livered up the object of contention, would mourn over 
che loss of friends, of parents, and of honor. 

The assemblies sounded the alarm; every hand was 
employed in spreading fire-brands around the pile of 
tyranny, that a beacon might be formed to guide them 
through the coming struggle; and amid the trials and 
darkness which encompassed them, a bright and solitary 
star glimmering in the heavens, shone congenial upon 
their path, lighting them to freedom or to death. 
Conscious rectitude reared them bouyant over every 
difficulty, solaced them in the gloomy desert of strife 
and desolation, and poured into the agonizing tortures 
of wounds and lacerations, the mollifying unction of a 
righteous cause. 

Suffice it to* observe, this prospect was not carried 
into execution; that, with a change of counsellors, the 
affairs of the colonies, for a brief interval, assumed a 
more favorable aspect; yet, whilst the repeal of the ob- 
noxious measure produced no little congratulation, the 
right of taxation being still unrelinquished, and boldly 
asserted, the country was again flooded with spirited 
and classical productions. Massachusetts and Virginia, 
and South Carolina, now bared their arms for the strife, 
and hastened to repel the encroachments of the haughty 
King. Every movement of the mother country in- 
spired them with additional ardour, all her manseuvres 
contributed to accelerate the progress of the dreadful 
collision. Whilst the billows of the deep wafted intel- 
ligence of the daily violation of privileges, and of the 
supercilious contempt of the strong and forcible rea- 
soning of Congress; whilst their petitions and remon- 
strances were disregarded, or were answered with 
additional injury and constraint, the domineering 
conduct of their Governors fomented the fierce indig- 
nation, which passive endurance could by no means 
appease. They had expressed their feelings; " they 
held up the subject in every light, of which it was 
capable;" they had submitted till non-resistance would 
have been a crime. Deceitful calms occasionally en- 
sued, indicative of the tremenduous calamities which 
would follow; the dismal forebodings of the slumbering 



tempest, was seen ever and anon to burst forth 
frightfully upon the raging torrent; but even had they 
plunged into the water without mast or compass, expo- 
sed to the most shocking perils, it seems they would 
have arrived at the destined port. Unarmed and unpre- 
pared, as they were, they willingly defied the terrors of 
the conflict; for experience had informed them " that 
the battle was not always to the strong, but to the 
vigilant, the active, and the brave." War now inevi- 
table, 

"Waved her dread standard to the breeze of morn, 
Pealed her loud dram, and twanged her trumpet horn." 

The rays of genius, shooting forth from every quar- 
ter, began to diffuse abroad their benign influence, and 
all stood forth with a zeal commensurate to the momen- 
tous importance of the objects they were solicitous to 
defend. And indeed, the vigor and resolution, the 
prudence and magninimity, which they always exhibit- 
ed, was only equalled by the sublimity of the dispute 
in which they had embarked. For this, the comforts 
and delights which opulence lavishes upon its posses- 
sors were nobly sacrificed; rank and distinction 
mingled in the files of the common soldier, to battle 
for the rights of man ; property and possessions, the 
accumulated fruits of years of industry and exertion, 
were left to the ravages of the foe, and were not un- 
frequently swept into oblivion, beneath the unrestrain- 
ed sallies of the wildest passions. When the night of 
adversity spread her darkest veil over the face of their 
affairs, Despondency found no harbor in their bosoms. 
If a cloud occasionally lowered in. the political horizon, 
it was hailed as .the harbinger of a brighter day, preg- 
nant with conquest and success, when the radiant 
effulgence of a more propitious sun would gild every 
prospect and illumine every vale. Misfortune, in- 
stead of damping their resolution, seemed to impart 
an impetus to their activity, to render them more strict- 
ly vigilant, and to quicken into life and action every 
dormant power. Brutus struck for Freedom and for 
Rome; the thunders of Demosthenes roiled at a dis- 
tance from Philip and his host; Tully poured forth his 



10 

fiercest invectives, when Cataline was afar and his 
dagger no longer to be feared; yet the Patriots of the 
Revolution, in the cabinet and the field, during eleven 
years, contended with the mightiest monarch of the 
universe, and fought with unflinching determination, 
to arrest the iron-rod from the crimson grasp of tyran- 
ny, and to convert it into the salutary sceptre of jus- 
tice and of law. 

Of the many noble spirits, who bled and suffered in 
their endeavours to establish our independence, the 
names of Washington, of Montgomery, and of War- 
ren, emblazoned upon the page of history, shall shine 
in all their original lustre, and shed around the name 
of America a halo of undying and unfading glory. 
When united, they form the most charming constella- 
tion that ever attracted human attention; they twinkled 
in those dreary days, as luminaries in a sombre sky. 
They were truly just men; and, had we lived in those 
times, we might have exclaimed of them individually, 
without exaggerating their merits, 

" Si fi actus illabatur orhis 
Impavidum ferient rainoe." 

Scholars without pedantry, patriots without re- 
proach, christians without fanaticism, and men without 
blemish — amidst the eminent perils which environed 
them, prudence and firmness appeared eminently 
conspicious. 

In vain the hurricane with its attendant terrors oppo- 
sed its wrath; its fiery-wings flapped upon them with a 
hideous blaze, yet burnt not; for there was a redeeming 
spirit in their frames, which bid defiance to his blighting 
force and led them through each withering way. The 
batttlements of heaven, disgorging their baleful contents, 
dissolving snows and powerful elements conspired 
to obstruct their marches and to interpose impedi- 
ments to the progress of the inexperienced troops. 
But they surmounted every obstacle; nothing could 
overcome them. W T hen we contrast the redolent 
profusion and the costly delicacies squandered in the 
British camp, with the deficiency, the inadequate, and 
frequently irregular supplies of the devoted army of 



f 



11 

Washington, we will receive but a faint idea of tne 
privation which they endured. Love of liberty, which 
cheers its votaries in the hour of trouble, calmed every 
pang and solaced every affliction; breathed its genial 
influence into the dying warrior, soothed each ex- 
cruciating pain, and mitigated the corroding sorrows 
which would have otherwise accompanied his dissolu- 
tion. " Experience was the lamp by which their feet 
were guided;" it glimmered upon the surrounding 
darkness, to encourage, enliven, and to save. 

The history of the revolutions of most other nations 
resents a revolting picture of cruelty and of crime, 
t is true, their instigators are often decked with the 
attributes of heroes; it is true that the forgotten duty, 
or prostituted talents of the biographer, depicts them 
in the lofty sentences and glowing superlatives-of pas- 
sion; yet the tears of Humanity, mourning over moul- 
dered grandeur and magnificence, weeping for the gi- 
gantic souls reposing in some deserted spot, with no 
flowers blooming sorrowfully over their tombs, no sweet 
scented rose diffusing its delicious fragrance upon the 
wailing wind, shower down upon them everlasting 
condemnation, and consign them to the records of per- 
petual infamy. 

Pericles, Aristides, Solon, and Lycurgus, are names 
which would do honor to the annals of any country. 
Camillus, Cincinnatus, and Fabricius, are the admira- 
tion of posterity. But who will compare the stern 
and rigid virtues, the stormy and overwhelming elo- 
quence of the former, or the austere and disinterested 
lives of the latter, to the names which are identified 
with the glories and splendour of the American Revo- 
lution? History, which furnishes abundant illustrations 
of fidelity, love of country and memorable actions, will 
refer us to that source for criteria of unblemished 
patriotism and unsullied deeds. There, in the contem- 
plation of those times, the mind will be recreated from 
the perusal of the tarnished page, and receive pure and 
unalloyed delights. 

Some men have risen, Briarean like, mid regal ruin r 
and national dissolutions, tossing the glistening diadem 
to the air and hurling the thrones of ages to the earth, 



12 

others again have destroyed the resources of inhuman 
wretches, waging war against the feeble and unpro- 
tected, and in this way procured honorable laurels; 
but have afterwards turned with fury upon their homes, 
their countrymen, and their altars. Let no imperious 
pen dare give the preference to the Hannibals, the 
Caesars, the Scipios, the Pompeys, or Alexanders; for 
Washington, 

" Integer vite seleris que purus'' 

" Intaininatus fulget honoribus." 

Greece, whose brow once bloomed with the wreathes 
of Science, and whose path was strewn with the pleas- 
ant offerings of Art, has fallen from her palmy state, and 
the splendour of her cities has vanished from the earth. 
I will not point you to the site ot Carthage, the sea- 
beaten rock, where the lonely fisherman casts his 
fragile line, watching with intense anxiety the break- 
ing of the mountain billow till some solitary wave 
sweeps him from his precarious footing. 

Rome, whose foundation was laid in strife, who so 
profusely banished her blood and treasure to gratify 
ner insatiable thirst for dominion: whose Hag was once 
and again unfurled, and flung abroad to the breeze in 
the phrensied fury of revolutionary madness, has been 
overwhelmed by the ferocious myriads poured down 
upon her from the wandering tribes or" the North, 
spreading a dismal gloom over that region, which had 
already witnessed the blackest series of massacre and 
desolation: — 

" Suis et ipsa Roma viribus viet." 

To the remains of these once great nations, I would 
direct you, fellow students, as subjects for serious re- 
flection. Now is the proper time to acquire a know- 
ledge of those causes which undermined such powerful 
governments. 

Whilst we celebrate the annual return of the 4th of 
July, and call to remembrance the glorious resistance 
of our ancestors, let us not pass in silence the manly, 
though u nsuccessful struggle maintained in other climes, 
to thwart the designs of oppressors, and to emerge from 
the narcotic mists of bondage. At the name of Ire- 



13 

land, what afflicting recollections are revived in the 
memory? What heart is not thrilled with horror? 
Paralyzed, plundered and impoverished; her interest 
prostrated; the hard earned coin wrung from her 
famishing citizens; her salubrious soil moistened by 
the blood of her generous, martyred, and devoted peo- 
ple; with the sword of persecution still reeking round 
the followers of the cross, she moans over the tombs of 
her departed hopes and her heroes. God grant that she 
may rise; that the fire of Freedom may be kindled 
about the relics of her murdered son; that it may blaze, 
consume and ameliorate; that the spirit of Despotism 
may sink groaning to the dust; that the flame may 
break forth, finding a holy sanctuary in every breast; 
that other times and other men may start at his voice, 
"vindicate to his motives," and write the epitaph of the 
immortal Emmet! 

Poland has been torn, mangled, and dissevered. 
The mutilated corpses of Koskiouski and his compatri- 
ots, that once glowed with animation and infused the 
cheering aspirations of their fired souls into the lives 
of our suffering fathers; some of the sublime and tow- 
ering spirits, who left their native land to battle in a 
foreign clime — to avert the menacing ami of usurped 
and enraged authority — to crush, in the perishing shock, 
the delusive hope that lingered in the halls of tyranny; 
who figured in the chequered scenes of the revolution; 
who participated in the toils and hardships which rose 
upon every side and at every moment; and whose la- 
bors contributed, in no slight degree, to erect the 
gratifying fabric of our country's freedom; — who could 
have predicted, under the guidance of such men, in 
pursuit of the same holy object, that together with the 
reality, their mutilated and insulted bodies would pro; 
claim that even the semblance of liberty has vanished? 
It devolves upon me, to relate the lamentable truth. 
What heart is so callous to every generous feeling as 
not to vibrate with sympathy at the recital of her mis- 
fortunes? And when we hear the chains of bondage 
still clanking upon their frames; when we cast our eyes 
to the remnants of the race, and behold Oppression still 
haughtily triumphant; can we but return thanks to an 



14 

A' mighty Providence that ours is the favorite spot, the 
blest abode of peace. 

Fellow students, there is another subject equally ex- 
citing and momentous as that, which has thus far en- 
gaged your attention; a subject all important and 
absorbing; involving not the interest and prosperity; 
not the success; not the grandeur or the exaltation of 
our Republic; not the renown or terror of our name; 
not our commerce, whitening every sea with her sails; 
not our happiness; not alone the honored altar of our 
Constitution; but comprehending in its decision out- 
existence as a people, as christians, as men. Our times 
are critical beyond description 

" Nubila sunt suhitaa tempora nostra mails." — Ovid. 

We stand upon a precipice: beneath, the demons of 
civil war, of rapine, and of devastation, forge the winged 
thunderbolt: around us, glow the dying embers of free- 
dom: above, in the pale and sad looking watch-tower, 
sits the guardian angel of America, pensive and alone. 
Do we mean to cling to our inheritance, or to obscure 
the deeds of our ancestors? Do we mean to sink their 
memory to oblivion? If not, whither do we tend? 
The most indifferent observer sees the salutary ad- 
monitions of the Father of his Country^ disregarded by 
a degenerate posterity — traces the pernicious effects of 
faction, party strife and sectional prejudices, and sees 
the saving influence of the patriot despised, neglected, 
and overwhelmed. Anarchy, arrayed in all its fierce- 
ness, has driven his gjry car through the most opulent 
and flourishing cities: turbulence has reigned despotic, 
ruling by; its arbitrary will — tearing asunder the 
bands which connect the. States, and threatening the 
Union with endless calamities. Differences have been 
revived amongst us; yet what Cataline, or what Cethe • 
gu3, will hurl, with sacrilegious violence, the signal 
^pear? Agitation has succeeded agitation, and excite- 
ment followed excitement. The cohesive qualities of 
mutual concession and forbearance, the anchor of our 
safety, will calm the angry waters of the rivulet, will 
still the rocking pyramid of Union, at whose base the 
generous plant, which sprung and grew in England 



15 

but which withered under the poisonous blast of 
Scottish rule, shall put forth its branches and flourish. 
Cherished in a propitious soil, it shall pierce the 
heavens; sheltering under its salubrious and inter- 
minable shade all the unfortunate of tht human race. 
Convey yourselves to our legislative halls; select 
from them those who merge every passion in the love 
of country, men of strong and sober judgment, sublime 
and brilliant qualifications; who approach the defects 
of the Constitution as the wounds of a parent, with 
trembling fear and awful solicitude; who apply the 
remedy, after cool and dispassionate deliberation, con- 
sultation destitute of all sharp ingredients, sudden in 
their operations, but wholly compounded of those 
which are sure and steady; compare them with their 
opponents, and their number, though zealous, fervent, 
and immovable, dwindle to insignificance. Aware of 
the opinion which has obtained in Europe, with regard 
to our form of government, knowing that upon our 
ultimate success, depends the happiness or unborn 
millions; believing that these who now slumber in the 
vilest and most odious bondage, may one day rise with 
the shackles falling from their limbs; beholding the 
propitious rays of Republicanism dissipating the va- 
pours which overshadow the regions of the despot; 
imagining we hear the piercing, thrilling cry of rebuke 
issuing from our ancestral graves — how solemn should 
we feel is our trust, how immense, how ineffable our 
obligations! Here then, we, who will one day enter 
upon the world, and to whom in part the destinies of 
America will be entrusted, should mark the conduct 
of the vicious and designing with unqualified con- 
demnation, and imbibe, from the pure and unpolluted 
fountain of wisdom and integrity, sentiments which 
'• will strengthen with our strength, and grow with our 
growth;" sentiments favorable above all to union radi- 
cally repugnant to discord and dissention, and hostile 
to every thing calculated to produce them. Let us 
carefully peruse the affectionate admonitions of the 
venerated Patriot; lest his insulted shade, leaving its 
narrow house tenantless and deserted, flit across our 
path and haunt us in the hour of repose, 



